What is a Community Wildfire Protection Plan?A valid and current CWPP is required when applying for state and federal wildfire mitigation grants. They must meet Colorado State Forest Service guidelines. Sadly, they are often contracted out to third parties, written without community or agency input, and left to sit on a shelf gathering dust.

We are about to break that mold in Bailey.

The Platte Canyon Fire Protection District (PCFPD) recently hired the Forest Stewards Guild to help write and facilitate the creation of a new CWPP for north Park County. 311 square miles from Kenosha Pass to Pine Junction. This CWPP will include:¬ Community input¬ Collaboration between the PCFPD, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Elk Creek Fire Protection District ¬ State of the art wildfire modeling and operational analysis¬ an action plan going forward that will make this CWPP a living, working document

Why should we engage in this process? What’s in it for me?None of us live in a bare dirt subdivision like Highlands Ranch. Our subdivisions were overlaid on a forest ecosystem that all of us share. We share the viewsheds. We share the watersheds. We share the underground aquifers. We also share a forest ecosystem that is adapted to and dependent for its health and vitality on Wildfire. We share the risk of a wildfire and unlike other natural disasters, both individually and collectively we can act to reduce that risk. Here are some of questions we should be asking ourselves as we start to engage in this process:ϖ How can I protect my home from a wildfire? My business?ϖ What can we do as a community to ensure a safe evacuation in the event of a wildfire?ϖ What is our evacuation plan? What is my plan? What is the school district plan?ϖ What can we do about the risk of insurability?ϖ How can we make sure that our fire protection district is adequately funded?ϖ What can we do as a community to protect our forest eco-services? How do we avoid the prospect of living in a dystopian forest of black sticks?ϖ How can we avoid the flooding danger resulting from a large burn scar?ϖ How will a fire affect my well? My septic system?ϖ What is the true long-term cost of a wildfire?ϖ What is our recovery plan?

Becoming wildfire resilient is not possible without community. We can only do this together. So, join the conversation, learn how we can work together to reduce the risk of wildfire in our beautiful mountain community.

The WhyWhen the Sheriff calls for a wildfire evacuation there will be chaos. The call could happen at any time of day or night. Hundreds of vehicles may be attempting to evacuate. In the midst of this chaos, it is absolutely essential that our major evacuation routes not be in flames.

WHY CROWDFUND?Traditional federal and state sources of funds for wildfire mitigation specifically exclude roadway mitigation. Think of this $100,000 project as an investment in our collective safety.No one is going to do this for us, our Bailey community will have to do this on our own. Just $25 per household would get the job done.

I would be happy to donate to Park County offices or any of our fire departments.

My understanding is FAB has, with great effort, worked out agreements with the Park County commissioners, Platte Canyon and Elk Creek Fire Departments to put this plan in place. Funding has been the issue and this was determined to be the most efficient and least costly solution. Representatives for the commissioners and both fire departments attended and spoke at the meeting we attended to launch this fund-raising effort. Our donation is going straight to the 501(c)3 that is Fire Adapted Bailey. We have never been huge on crowd-funding accounts, but we are certainly supporting this effort financially. Our lives, properties and that of our neighbors is at stake.

BGR and company has been finding, extinguishing and reporting abandoned camp fires in the dispersed camping areas of Deer Creek for years. To us, it is a matter of when, not if, the catastrophe occurs. And the one-way- in, one-way-out is terrifying. This is a solution to the bottle necks that make it frightening. A huge amount of volunteer time and money has been put into this effort. HOAs are supporting it. The Flume had a reporter at the meeting and I'm sure there will be an article in next week's paper. Mrs. BGR

Fire Adapted Bailey's role in this is to manage the Crowdfunding campaign. They are all volunteers and will not receive any of the donated funds. Platte Canyon Fire Wildland Modulewill be doing the mitigation, so all the funds will go to Platte Canyon Fire and will stay in our community.

all the funds will go to Platte Canyon Fire and will stay in our community.

That's a key aspect for me, that ALL the funds will go directly to OUR fire department and will ONLY be used for this specific project.

It's crazy that State & Federal funds can not be used for our roadway fire mitigation But rules are rules.So crowd funding is really our best choice for getting this work done.

Can you imagine being trapped on CR 43 (or CR72 or Mt Evans) trying to get your family and pets to safety? Can't move forward, can't move backwards and the wildfire is closing in on you. What a horrible way to die.

How much are you willing to pay to minimize that scenario?Please help our community be a little safer.

I was just so glad to hear that this is a community fund to be paid to the proper parties. I am definitely willing to help out to make this fund larger.These are the sort of donations that can add up and help to make ours a safer community.

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